Lawyers' body seeks new Bombay high court complex at BKC

The Advocates’ Association of Western India (AAWI) has submitted a representation to chief minister Prithviraj Chavan requesting that a plot of land be allotted to construct a new complex of the Bombay high court at Bandra-Kurla Complex, which will act as an extension.

The lawyers' body sent a letter to Chavan on August 15 saying that the new complex should be constructed keeping in mind the expected litigation after 10-15 years. The new complex will help accommodate more courts, chambers for judges and room for staff attached to the judges.

The letter claims that the strength of the Bombay high court judges went up from 60 to 75 in 2005-2006 and may go up to 94 in the near future.

The letter reads: “At present, about 3,000 advocates and 14,000 litigants visit the high court premises in Mumbai daily on an average. The storage capacity for keeping court records in the present premises is extremely inadequate. Therefore, it is important that the state government visualise the problems that the judiciary, judges, litigants and advocates will face after 10 to 15 years.”

Rajiv Chavan, president of the AAWI, said that earlier on January 24 also they had made a representation to the CM during the 150th year celebration of the AAWI. Apart from implementation of “legal aid services” to help junior members, the AAWI has also requested for establishment of a “Vakil Bhavan” in all the regions where lawyers coming from outside Mumbai can could get accommodation at cheaper rates.